"Understanding how immature osteoclasts are recruited to the bone in the first place and targeting the signals that control that migration represents a potential new approach to treating and preventing debilitating joint and bone diseases," he added.

The research team led by Dr. Masaru Ishii, a visiting fellow from Osaka University in Japan, found that chemoattractant sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), which is associated with the trafficking of immune cells into and out of the lymph nodes, play a key role in bone metabolism.

During the study, they compared the bone density in mice having the S1P receptor on their cells' surfaces with that of mice lacking it.